My Self-Publishing Bible is Updated!

Not mine as in I wrote it, but Catherine Ryan Howard’s Self-Printed was my total bible when I was getting #Forfeit ready for publication. It’s funny, sensible and riddled with pragmatic advice.

I asked Catherine this:

I’ve been invited to an author event – you know where they stick a bunch of writer folk in a room and fans come flocking to have their paperbacks signed? TBH, I’m mostly going for vanity reasons, but are you aware of these being actually good for marketing/sales/promotion?

She replied:

Do these kinds of things sell books, is the bottom line, right? Well… yes and no.

Yes: they sell books you bring as stock and you never know what might happen because of these events – you might be invited to another one, for instance, which sells more books as stock, or you might meet another self-publisher and become best buds, and that other self-publisher might say, “Hey, guest post on my blog” and that blog might have 1000s of readers and that may result in more sales.

No: well, no. They really don’t help sell books at all, at least not in a directly measurable way. But DO THEM ANYWAY. They are usually great fun, they increase your profile, they get you out of the house and they might lead to talks or workshops or panel discussions at swanky book festivals and other events that you’ll get paid for, which is another way of making an income as an author. And doing them for vanity reasons is great too – why shouldn’t you feel Like An Author for the evening? You deserve it. Enjoy!

This was actually the second question I’ve asked Catherine. The first was on Twitter. Catherine advocates coordinatation…

About the Author

Catherine Ryan Howard is a writer, self-publisher and caffeine enthusiast from Cork, Ireland. SELF-PRINTED: THE SANE PERSON’S GUIDE TO SELF-PUBLISHING (3rd edition) is out now in paperback and e-book and available from Amazon. Follow the #selfprintedsplash on Twitter today (Friday 24th) and/or visit www.catherineryanhoward.com for chance to win an amazing prize that will get your self-publishing adventure started!

“SELF-PRINTED is my self-publishing bible. It taught me how to format, create and upload my e-books and print-on-demand paperbacks. It showed me practical things such as how to build a website/blog and how to promote my books. More importantly, it taught me how to compete with the professionals. Just look at the results – The Estate Series has sold nearly 100,000 copies and following that I got a traditional book deal with Thomas & Mercer too, so I’m now a hybrid author. Jam-packed full of hints and tips all in one place, I’m always referring back to it. In a word, it’s priceless.” – Mel Sherratt, author of The Estate Series and DS Allie Shenton Series

If you’re thinking of self-publishing, I totally recommend this book – the paperback will pay for itself in no time.